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GROCERIES & SUNDRIES -
Getting The Best Price (continued)
2. Try your hardest to always buy on sale. Paying regular price for most items is just not necessary, if you plan ahead and watch for sales and specials at all of your local stores.
a. Check your weekly newspaper fliers for announced sales and specials, and look for the store’s sales flier and unannounced sales while in the store.
b. Take advantage of buy-
c. Look on the higher and lower shelves for specials and less expensive products,
where they are often located, rather than on the eye-
d. Make sure to look on the “outside” lanes of the grocery store, particularly at the front of the store against the front wall. Often there are unannounced specials offered with some real savings.
e. Get a rain check for any sale item you need that is out of stock. If the rain check indicates the number that you can buy in the future at the sale price, make sure that the store fills out the rain check with the maximum number you want to buy. Most stores are very liberal with this policy.
3. Buy generic and store brands whenever they are less expensive than brand name products, which is usually the case unless the brand names are on sale. Price differences can be very large for the same product (in some cases the exact same product or ingredients). Even if the product is somewhat different, often the taste and utility of the product is the same. For instance, if the product is used as an ingredient in a recipe, small differences in taste may not matter at all.
4. Always look at price per unit, which is displayed on pricing labels on the product shelf. Bigger packages of the same product are not always the least expensive per unit. This is a common practice, particularly when the smaller size is on sale and the larger size is not. So, always check unit prices for the same exact product, as well as for competing brands and store brands, to make sure which product is least expensive. And always buy the least expensive product.
5. Take advantage of any product or store discounts that are available.
a. Look for coupons for products you would buy in any case. Check your local paper,
check in-
b. If you are using coupons, see if your store has a double discount coupon day. If so, make sure to use your coupons on that day.
c. Some grocery stores also have coupons for their store brands which they do not
widely advertise. Look up the store’s web site, or ask at the information counter,
to see if they have store-
d. Many stores have store savings cards which provide savings to “preferred” customers that have enrolled in the program. Use these cards when possible. But be careful. Many stores use these programs to give their customers a false sense that they are getting real savings. How many times at checkout have you been told that you saved $8.62 today? Well, you may have saved that much versus not having a store savings card, but you may have actually spent more than you would have if your purchases were made at a different store. Always be aware of price comparisons between stores and shop for the best price.
e. Ask your store if they offer senior discounts or have a weekly senior day where seniors get discounted prices.
f. Some stores also have price matching where they will match a lower price offered by another store. WalMart is known to do this, as well as many other stores. Ask if your store will price match. If they do, just ask for a price match at the register whenever you are aware of lower prices elsewhere, but make sure you have the ads with you to show the store the price they need to match.
6. If possible, make sure you shop at least a few stores and compare the prices at the different stores. Some stores will normally have lower pricing for certain types of goods, and other stores will have better pricing on other types of goods. Take advantage of these differences by filling your shopping needs at more than one store. Use GroceryGuide.com to compare prices at local stores, as well as sign up for sale alerts from your favorite grocers. But be aware of transportation costs if considering stores far apart from each other, or far from your home.
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